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Race to the CME Globe brings $1 million payday to LPGA

Daytona Beach, Florida

The LPGA Tour announced a new season-long points race that will feature a $US1 million prize at the season-ending Tour Championship.

The inaugural ''Race to the CME Globe'' begins this month at the season-opening Bahamas LPGA Classic and runs to the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Mexico in November.

The top 72 players in the points standings, plus any event winners not otherwise qualified, will advance to the $US2 million CME Group Tour Championship, where points will be reset to ensure the season champion is decided at the final tournament.

Points from the Tour Championship will be added to the season points to determine the winner of the $US1 million bonus, giving the season-long top performers an edge but no guarantee of taking the largest pay-off in women's golf.

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''I was so honoured to win the LPGA money title in 2013 and now I have something even bigger to play for as I look to make it two in a row,'' said world No.1 Park Inbee, of South Korea.

''Nothing is guaranteed with this new system, so this race is going to make everyone on our tour work a little bit harder because the pay-off is so big.''

The bonus represents more money than all but the top eight players earned in 2013.

''To say this figure is significant is a massive understatement,'' said Karen Stupples, a one-time major winner and now an analyst for the Golf Channel.

The five LPGA major championships will carry 25 per cent more point values than typical tour events, with major winners taking 625 points compared with 500 for other events. Only LPGA Tour members accumulate points.

Points will be awarded to all players who make the cut at LPGA events. In events with no cut, points will go to the top 40 and level.

The goal, according to LPGA commissioner Michael Whan is ''to create a Sunday that can be climactic like we haven't seen before on the LPGA Tour''.

He said the points race was ''a significant difference maker, not only the exposure of lifting the globe but the financial benefits that come with it''.

The points race is the latest chapter in the LPGA Tour's revival, which began after Whan replaced the deposed commissioner Carolyn Bivens in 2010.

The 2014 schedule features 32 tournaments, not including the eight-country International Crown, which is a new event.

In 2011, there were 23 official events.

''We have just come out of a tough phase when we were struggling to get companies to sponsor tournaments, let alone a season-long race,'' Stupples said.

''I feel it speaks volumes as to how far we have come in the last few years.''